


Defeats and Victories

by Pauliestorylover



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), BAMF Loki (Marvel), Canon Divergence - Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Fix-It, Gen, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, One Shot, POV Loki (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 05:54:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29077437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pauliestorylover/pseuds/Pauliestorylover
Summary: Loki lives. That changes a lot.
Relationships: Gamora & Loki (Marvel)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	Defeats and Victories

**Author's Note:**

> I found this in my drafts and figured I might as well share it

Loki looked on, invisible, as his ‘body’ grew limp and was thrown down by Thanos. Grimacing, he rubbed his neck, silently cursing the Mad Titan’s literal iron fist.

He really hated that spell - it took a ridiculous amount of concentration and skill to keep illusions solid, and whatever injuries his clones suffered always caused phantom pains to erupt, tsunamis of fire drenching his skin and organs.

Add that to the chore of illusioning himself – the real him, and Loki was starting to feel a headache slithering his way. The heat of the burning ship and the flood of Asgardian blood probably didn't help.

What could he say? It was a very bad day.

_‘But it was necessary…’_

He stared on, as Thor broke down over his ‘body’ and the Statesman grew fiery with purple energy, swallowing the urge to reveal himself.

_‘It was necessary,’_ Loki reminded himself, ‘ _We must win at any cost…’_

‘ _But did you have to be so harsh on him? Is watching half his people massacred not enough?’_ His conscience murmured, stirring from its deep slumber.

‘ _Besides, we need a secret weapon, Thanos is too strong to beat otherwise...’_ Loki continued reasoning.

_‘No war is enough reason to shatter his soul, L.’_

‘ _Oh, shut up, Tommy,’_ Loki shook his head. Why did his conscience have to wake up at such an untimely occasion?

Sighing, he cast a strong protection spell on Thor, who was beginning to drift into unconsciousness.

He pursed his lips. Thor would be safe - he trusted his seidr enough to know that, but it didn’t make leaving Thor in this state any easier. _‘Thanks a lot, Tommy, conscience, whatever you want to be called.’_

But right now, he had an army to stalk.

* * *

Thanos was powerful, so powerful that he had grown careless with his enemies. It was an easy task for Loki to follow the triumphant army onto Sanctuary II, and an even easier one to avoid the few guards littered over the place. Thanos’s deadliest warriors had no time for such mundane things like standing guard. Only the weakest had stayed behind.

Soon, Loki found himself, still illusioned, standing at the edge of the throne room. Loki shivered, it was even more intimidating than he remembered.

_‘Now isn’t the time to reminisce old memories!’_ he scolded himself, ‘ _pay—‘_

Someone appeared the room - Thanos and a female Zehoberei…

She looked familiar, with her defiant stance and leather outfit, but Loki couldn’t seem to place a finger on why. That is, until she threw her food at his throne. She shifted her stance, just enough for Loki to catch a glimpse of her resentful expression.

He stifled a gasp.

_It was Gamora._

* * *

Gamora was the one who had saved him when he was falling through the Void, all that time ago. She had attempted to smuggle him out of Sanctuary, but failed. The rest, the attack on Earth and all the trouble that had followed, was all Thanos, not Gamora.

* * *

After a long _family discussion_ (Loki kept his distance with this one - it reminded him too much of his own), Thanos pulled Gamora into the alcove beside the throne room.

Frowning, he scurried after them…

And had to choke back another surprised yelp. _‘This day is just full of surprises, isn't it?’_

_Nebula_ , of all beings, was in the alcove, suspended in mid-air.

Loki distrusted Nebula immensely – she was too blunt, too easy to read. But she was one of Thanos’s most treasured minions, he would not dispose of her easily, so why was she on the receiving end of his wrath?

Silently, Loki hid next to the gate of the alcove, and waited.

He was not disappointed.

* * *

It turned out that Nebula had rebelled against Thanos, then tried to kill him – and very nearly succeeded at that. _‘It would have saved us a lot of trouble if she did.’ ‘At least she tried, L.’ ‘Oh SHUT UP, Tommy!’_

Thanos, after revealing that fact, proceeded to force Gamora to tell him where the soul stone was hidden – by torturing Nebula.

Loki, in spite of himself, shuddered at the sound of her screams. It was all he could do to try stop himself from hyperventilating. Between clasping his hand over his mouth and slowing his rapid breaths, he hissed at himself, _‘Keep it together, you idiot, and concentrate! This is no time to get a panic attack!’_

“Vormir!” Gamora yelled, “the stone is on Vormir.”

_‘Oh, boy.’_

* * *

Loki, ignoring his conscience’s pleading to save Nebula, teleported himself to Vormir.

In a moment’s notice, he stumbled to a stop beneath a tall and imposing cliff. 

_‘But...where are they?’_ There was not a single organism in sight, nothing but rocks, sand, shallow ponds, and more rocks. Did he teleport himself to the wrong planet? It had only been a few years since he last teleported, surely his skill in that area could not have deteriorated that much?

Well, at least no one was here to see him embarrass himself.

Except…Were those voices that he heard on the cliff?

“No!” someone screamed, the heart-breaking sound echoing throughout the wasteland.

Loki’s heart skipped a few beats, _‘Gamora!’_

She began plummeting, a green meteor falling downwards, her purplish-red hair turning into waves of metaphorical fire as she cut through air with lightning-like speed.

Loki, mentally cursing his terrible luck, created an illusion of a dead Gamora to trick Thanos, then immediately started casting a quick protection spell over her. It was not as strong as the one he made for Thor, but, as his conscience told him, it was better than nothing.

He finished the spell in the nick of time, just a millisecond before Gamora hit the ground. He breathed a sigh of relief –for a second, he thought he was about to witness his seidr failing him for the first time.

“Loki?” Gamora murmured, shock evident on her face, “What are you doing here?”

“Yeah, it’s nice to see you too. At least you didn’t have to break my fall this time.” Loki, hiding the shock that he was no longer invisible, grinned and answered. He really should let his seidr go on a vacation when he gets back. _If he gets back._

“I’m pretty sure _you_ just broke _mine_. We got to stop meeting like this!” Gamora grumbled, shakily getting to her feet, “Wait…but if I’m alive, does that mean Thanos didn’t fulfill the requirements of ‘sacrificing someone you love’ to get the stone?”

“I _wish_ it worked that way. Thanos sacrificed you for the stone, knowing full well that he won’t get you back. If the soul stone is anything like the magical artefacts I’ve encountered, I’m certain he has it now…” Loki mused.

“Then we have to stop him!” Gamora clutched his arm, “you can teleport, right?”

* * *

It took them a lot of guessing and quite a few tries, but finally, Gamora and Loki arrived on Titan.

Thanos had not made good use of his time. Instead of snatching the time stone, he was now out of time himself. Half of the guardians, Stark, the Midgardian sorcerer, someone who was dressed like a spider, and Nebula had already restrained him. The Infinity Gauntlet was pulled halfway off his hand.

Except…

“…tell me you didn’t do it!” “I had to.”

The former speaker, upon hearing that, curled his fingers together. He looked too ready for a fist fight to Loki’s liking.

Next to Loki, Gamora swore and rushed towards the group, “Peter, stop!”

The newly-dubbed ‘Peter’ lowered his fist, blinking, “Gamora!?”

Stark sighed loudly, “Okay, thank—whoa!” The Gauntlet suddenly came loose, shooting through the air like a rocket…

…and landed in Nebula’s hands. Her eyes gleamed hungrily, “Finally! I’ve waited for this day for so long…”

* * *

Dozens of bangs, a colorful display of flashing lights, and enough manic laughter from Nebula to last Loki a lifetime later, Thanos lay dead in a newly-made crater. Nebula cackled, “Wow, revenge _is_ sweet. Alright, sis, it’s your turn.”

Then, to everyone’s surprise, she took off the Gauntlet and casually tossed it to Gamora, smirking, “Use it well, sis.”

Even Gamora looked baffled.

* * *

The day after the battle on Titan went by in a blur.

Gamora, of course, introduced Loki to the group of allies. Unsurprisingly, Stark and the sorcerer did not give him the warmest welcome. But it was fine, he was still salty about falling for thirty minutes anyway. Besides, _‘Reindeer Games’_ was a horrible nickname.

Then, the group went back to Earth, taking Loki with them, though not without a lot of reluctance from the sorcerer. _‘No, his name is Dr. Strange. Gamora said you’re supposed to pay more respect to him.’ ‘Tommy, give me a break!’_

There, with the help of the Wakandan army and the Avengers, they dispatched the invading army, and reunited the teams.

People were glad, but everyone wanted a break. Unfortunately, there was still the aftermath of the war to deal with.

* * *

* * *

In the end, Gamora did become Thanos’s heir. But instead of continuing Thanos’s legacy, like he had originally imagined, Gamora destroyed the Black Order for once and for all. Afterwards, she sent the infinity stones back into hiding.

She also built a support group for overpopulated planets, so that they could help each other build a more self-sustainable society. Nobody wanted what happened to Titan to happen again.

Earth was the first to join the group.

* * *

Thor, reunited with the few lucky Asgardians refugees who had escaped the massacre, sought asylum on Earth. The United Nations wasn’t happy, but Stark allowed them to crash at the Avengers Compound until they got back on their feet.

But hey, Thor had a new weapon, Stormbreaker, to protect them, so nothing could go wrong, right?

* * *

After many long and tiring debates, Loki was finally allowed to stay on Earth. With Thor. At the Avengers Compound. Under constant supervision.

Suddenly, it didn’t seem like such a sweet deal anymore.

But Thor was happy. Besides, the Spider-boy was adorable, and he appreciated Loki’s seidr. Loki missed having someone who viewed it so positively around him.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so unbearable, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews are appreciated :)


End file.
